


Tea Leaves - Flowered

by SophSaige



Series: Tea Leaves [4]
Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: F/M, Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers Spoilers, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Mutual Pining, Patch 5.0: Shadowbringers, Patch 5.0: Shadowbringers Spoilers, Pining, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-18
Updated: 2020-09-18
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:08:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26531161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SophSaige/pseuds/SophSaige
Summary: “That’s enough.” Hythlodaeus interrupted their squabble, knowing it would go on for hours if he let them. He continued, his voice kindly, but firm. “Now, I believe we have an unmasking to attend to?”
Relationships: Azem/Solus zos Galvus | Emet-Selch, Solus zos Galvus | Emet-Selch & Warrior of Light, Solus zos Galvus | Emet-Selch/Original Character(s), Solus zos Galvus | Emet-Selch/Warrior of Light
Series: Tea Leaves [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1922944
Kudos: 28





	Tea Leaves - Flowered

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for Emet/WoL Week 2020, Day 6: Masks/ Embrace
> 
> This is a part of my Tea Leaves series! Reading the others is not required, but is recommended. c:

“On three.”

The three of them were seated facing one another in one of the more secluded gardens of Amaurot. Hidden in a far corner obscured by jacaranda trees, the trio sat among the fallen purple blossoms for what felt like ages before they were sure they wouldn’t be disturbed, or seen. The girl spoke again, trying to seem matter of fact, but her companions knew her too well. The pitch of her voice hooked upward and had cracked once or twice - she was just as nervous as they were.

“And don’t just sit there on three, we all agreed long ago that this wasn’t the time for pranks.” She eyed the taller of the boys to her right - despite the mask covering her face, you could tell she had narrowed her eyes at him.

He straightened, defensive. “Why would _I_ ruin such a momentous occasion?” 

The other boy piped up. “Because it’s _always_ you, Hythlodaeus,” he spoke with a sharpness that dripped with condescension, “and if it’s not you, it’s Charon. Luckily, she’s already relegated herself to mother-henning us today, so the only one who needs to have any potential ideas curbed is _you_.”

“ _Mother-henning_?” Charon flared at him, fuming, before turning back to Hythlodaeus. “As if Hades doesn’t spend every moment of every day thinking of new ways to mind us.”

Hades fired back at her. “Well if I didn’t _mind_ you, who knows where you both would be. Surely not counted amongst the finest students in the Akademia, that can be sure.”

“Oh, and we have _you_ to thank for that, do we? We have the young prodigy _Hades_ to thank for all of our academic achievements? Obviously not our talent, or skills, or-”

“That’s _enough._ ” Hythlodaeus interrupted their squabble, knowing it would go on for hours if he let them. He continued, his voice kindly, but firm. “Now, I believe we have an unmasking to attend to?”

“Right.” Charon exhaled through her nose, ignoring a small grumbling from Hades. “So, on three then. Masks off and hoods down, all at once. No games.”

The boys both parroted back to her in unison. “No games.”

She took a long, deep breath and exhaled it deliberately, slowly, trying to calm her nerves before she began counting.

“One…

Two…

Three.”

Charon quickly pulled down her hood and mask in one fluid motion, revealing a small, gangly thing with freckled skin and eyes the color of tarnished silver. Her ginger colored hair was wild and long, not quite corkscrewed enough to be curly, but not tame enough to be straight. She might be considered pretty, if her mouth weren’t wound up so tightly as she looked at her companions. First to match her gaze was Hythlodaeus, who looked just as she imagined he would. Shoulder length waves of chestnut hair and eyes to match, dark skin, and a wide, grinning smile met her, as if he considered himself a one man welcoming party. He looked just as warm and inviting as his personality would have you believe. Charon then looked to Hades, and her stomach dropped.

This wasn’t at all what she expected. Not entirely, at least. The angular features, slightly pursed lips, and long white hair weren’t what made her twist her mouth in on itself even more - it was his eyes. Two round, perfect suns placed under a brow that suggested he might be judging you, if he cared enough to even consider you in the first place. When Hades turned to her, Charon couldn’t help but imagine his eyes boring holes right through her chest. It was almost as if someone had taken the very essence of light and used it to craft his eyes upon his creation. She pretended not to notice the gentle way his lips just barely parted as he looked at her. This wouldn’t do.

She’d have to tease him even more, now. Can’t let anyone get any ideas, after all.

***

“ _There_ you are!” Charon strode towards Hades where he stood on the edge of a garden, far from Amaurot’s capitol building. “The rest of the Convocation was beginning to wonder where our newest member had run off to. You needn’t worry, however.” Charon beamed at him so proudly that she practically glowed. “I convinced them that you were off to rest up for your first day on the job tomorrow.” 

Hades grunted in acknowledgement. As grateful as he was that she thought to cover for his early exit from his own Convocation induction, he truly did just want to be alone and get some brooding done. His voice came out taut and strained when he spoke. “How did I look up there during the ceremony? Be honest.”

“Utterly miserable.” Charon smiled warmly at her friend, keen to bring balance to her friend’s disposition. “The good news is that you always look like that, so no one caught on to your foul mood.” She gently elbowed him in the ribs, still smiling. “Except me, of course.”

When her reply went unanswered, Charon prodded. “Tell me then, Hades-”

“AH! Azem, you _know_ better.” He was right, of course. It wasn’t appropriate to use their true names in public, and as Convocation members themselves they shouldn’t be caught using anything but their titles to address one another. Charon shrugged at him with a flippant expression. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d been reprimanded for setting a bad example, and she doubted it would be the last.

“You’ll have to forgive me, it’s going to take some getting used to.” She softened her face, resigning herself to a gentler approach. “What could have my dear friend in such a miserable state on what should be the best day of his existence?”

Hades took a moment to just out his chin in thought before resolving to tell her, despite how ridiculous it sounded. “It’s this damn mask.” He thumbed the edge of it that rested above his cheek. “It doesn’t look like me.”

Charon laughed, loud and earnest. “Well of course it doesn’t silly, it’s a mask.”

“You _know_ what I mean.” The sharp tone in Hades’ voice made it apparent he was unamused by her antics, or at least was too worn out to properly appreciate them. “I don’t feel like myself with it on.”

Charon saw her opportunity and took it - she quickly closed the gap between them and gingerly lifted up the bottom of the red Convocation mask he wore, peeking upwards at his bare face. For just a moment, she caught a glimpse of two unencumbered gold spheres, and by far the sweetest flush of pink she had ever seen on cheeks before.

“ _AZEM_!” Hades clapped his palm over his mask, replacing it back onto his face as swiftly as Charon had lifted it. 

She was wholly unaffected by his reaction, and even under her own Convocation mask you could see that she was as pleased as could be with herself. “Nope, still you under there.”

A moment passed between the two friends as they each fished for their words in the cool night air. The slouch in Hades’ posture seemed larger than it did most days - Charon thought he appeared to be trying to carry all of Amaurot himself.

Softening herself with a sigh, Charon wrapped her arms around Hades’ neck and held him close. Such expressions of unmitigated affection were rare for her, and Hades didn’t hesitate to return the embrace. He would take every bit she would offer.

Her voice crept quietly out of her mouth and drifted over his skin. “You needn’t fret. You’re going to be wonderful.”

They stood, arms entwined around one another just long enough for Hades to wonder if a shift was happening between them. This was too long of a prolonged touch for friends, wasn’t it? ‘Twas certainly much too long for colleagues. Hades might have stood there for eternity, had she not broken her hold on him and stepped away. Her robes had shifted, and she hastily readjusted them.

He reveled in the glimpse of a freckled shoulder before it was sheltered again.

“Now, it _is_ getting rather late, even for me.” Charon uttered a small laugh as she looked at him, almost as if it was an apology for leaving his arms. She smirked knowingly. “I’m off to rest up for what’s sure to be the most exciting day at the capitol I’ve had in a long while, seeing as there’s a new Convocation member joining in the fray. And I’m not going to tell you what to do, but I would guess you’re going to be in need of rest for tomorrow as well.”

“As if you need to tell _me_ to rest.” For the first time since his induction, Hades cracked a smile. Though it was small and thin, it radiated warmth throughout Charon in a way that touched her lips and the tops of her ears.

Charon again beamed at him and began to walk home, but not before turning and waving goodbye, saying “Goodnight then, _Emet-Selch_.”

It was funny, he thought. His new title hadn’t sounded nearly as wonderful as it did when Charon said it.

**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoy reading and/ or writing fanfic, come join us at [Emet Selch's Wholesomely Debauched & Enabling Bookclub discord](https://discord.gg/3nnDmez)!~ Without them, this piece wouldn’t exist! <3


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